Father of Peter Savage's accused killer found guilty

The father of a teenager accused of the stabbing death of former Trinity Grammar schoolboy Peter Savage in 1995 has been found guilty of the charge of accessory after the fact to manslaughter.

Peter, 16, was stabbed to death on Mills Street, Lidcombe, after refusing to hand his wallet to two teenagers who confronted him as he walked home from rugby training.

Unsolved for more than 10 years, the case finally came to court after a childhood friend of one of the killers spoke to police in 2006.

This sparked an undercover operation that resulted in one of the killers being convicted of manslaughter.

This offender is now 33 but cannot be named because he was 17 at the time of the crime.

Prosecutors then launched proceedings against Rafael Rodriguez, the father of the other alleged killer, Abraham Rodriguez, who was 18 when he allegedly stabbed Peter and then, soon after, left Australia for El Salvador.

Rafael Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to a charge of being an accessory after the fact to the murder.

This afternoon, after deliberating for a day and a half, the jury found the 60-year-old not guilty of being an accessory after the fact to murder but guilty of the lesser charge of being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter.